Outline
Information Asymmetry
1.Durkheim
 Gemeinschaft
to Gesellschaft
 Collective Conscience
 Anomie
2. Derber and Durkheim

On taking notes…Everything with a (D) is on web…focus on
summarizing these things in your own words…concentrate on
understanding & taking notes on Big Ideas…if you try to write
everything down your hand will hurt…And you will curse me…
Quiz
1. In The Good Man Fills His Own Stomach: All American Crimes
and Misdemeanors, Derber reflects on:
A. The growth of the fast food industry in the US
B. The reasons that crime rates have fallen in recent years
C. The increasing number of elderly people who die alone
D. The problem of excess individualism in American Society
Quiz
2. One of your readings discussed the idea of “refrigerator rights.”
Which of the following statements best relates to this concept:
A. The use of large refrigeration trucks by one company may not be
a problem for the environment, but when many companies use
such trucks it creates a social dilemma related to climate change
B. Society faces a new challenge as changing technology has
created a growing interest in being frozen before death, with the
hope of being thawed in the future
C. Members of our society suffer mentally and emotionally because
they lack strong social connections
D. Advocates of the poor have argued that lack of access to
refrigeration prevents people from maintaining a healthy diet
Emile Durkheim, 1858-1917

Early French Sociologist who was very interested in the
relationship between individuals and society

Skeptical of Smith’s notion that self-interest alone will hold
society together…

Wary of the new “cult of the individual”

Interested in exploring a core question of sociology:
 “What
makes society possible and prevents it from
disintegrating into a mass of sociopathic and self interested
isolates?” (Derber, 15)
Dissolving the Glue in Gemeinschaft

Gemeinschaft (traditional community)- a society which is
homogenous, largely based on kinship and possessing a moral cohesion
based on religious sentiment. (D)

Close, emotional, face to face ties, ascribed status



Everyone knew their place and role…
High degree of social integration into the community
Collective conscience- societal norms that pressure members of
a group to behave and think in a certain way.(D)


Norms constrain behavior and generate feelings of obligation to other members of
society
Think Amish or Fiddler on the Roof
Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft

Gesellschaft-(modern society) society
characterized by a complex division of
labor, individualism and competition. (D)

Division of Labor… From farmer to dizzying
array of occupations

From cooperation of tribe or community to
competition of market society


Ascribed status will give way to achieved status


Barn raising via community to barn raising via
contracts
Social status held because of her personal
accomplishments in competition with others (D)
From rural Italian community to anonymous urban NYC
Durkheim wonders…

“…if pre-industrial societies
(gemeinschaft) were held
together by common ideas and
sentiments, by shared norms and
values, what holds an industrial
society (gessellschaft) together.”
Crow, p.17


Without the “collective
conscience” what will hold things
together?
Durkheim’s fear… Maybe
nothing…

Maybe it is not being held
together…and is in the process of
disintegration
Modernity Leads to Anomie

Anomie (D)

a condition of normlessness, in which
modern society provides little moral
guidance to individuals.

Not clear what the norms are…what the
dos and don’ts are…

What are my responsibilities…my
obligations???

Maybe there are none…



Louis CK’s Amish story
Video Clip: Social Groups Chapter 3
Edward Munch,
The Scream
(1893)
Anomie


Anomie (D): a condition of normlessness, in which
modern society provides little moral guidance to
individuals.
Members of society increasing feel lonely & lost

From ascribed status:


“Because of our traditions, everyone of us knows who he is and what
God expects
To achieved status: “Who am I” & what am I supposed to be
doing with my life?”

What is my place & role…“Finding oneself”…”what should I do with my life”

Malaise, depression, the blues, angst…Existential Philosophy?
Anomie

Anomie (D): a condition of normlessness, in which modern
society provides little moral guidance to individuals.

Members of society increasing feel lonely & lost

From ascribed status:


“Because of our traditions, everyone of us knows who he is and what God
expects
To achieved status: “Who am I” & what am I supposed to be doing
with my life?”

What is my place & role…“Finding oneself”…”what should I do with my life”


Malaise, depression, the blues, angst…Existential Philosophy?
Members of society become less integrated into their
communities

From rural Italian community to anonymous urban NYC

High level of social integration…to very little..fewer
fridge rights?
Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft


Fewer “Refrigerator Rights

loss of deep, supportive relationships in modern society

“…one of the main reasons those relationships are missing is
because Americans too casually move away from friends and
family in pursuit of a new career or other opportunity.”

“The average American moves about once every five years. In the
year 2000, about 44 million people moved in America — about
17 percent of the population. And that’s been happening every
year for years.”
With less social integration…people fall through the
cracks…Abandoned kids in Durkheim’s time…Article about
elderly in San Francisco today?
With less social integration…people fall
through the cracks…


“In San Francisco, the bodies are piling up faster than the city
can handle them. More people are dying alone, with no one
to arrange their funerals, settle their estates or mourn their
passing. So far this year, 290 people in the city have died this
way, said city officials, compared with about 300 a year for
the last decade.”
Abe Simpson…my grandparents…
A lot of interesting recent research on
integration: Health

“Social connectedness is one of the most powerful determinants of our well-being.”
(Putnam 2000: 326)

Socially disconnected 2 to 5 times as likely to die from all causes (p.327)

People with fewest social ties have higher risk of dying from heart disease,
circulatory problems and cancer

EVEN AFTER ACCOUNTING for individual health status, socio-economic factors, and use of
preventive medicine. (p.329)

As a rough rule of thumb, if you belong to no groups but decide to join one, you cut
your risk of dying over the next year in ½. (p.331)

Very strong relationship between social integration & well being

As good as quitting smoking

Correlation
Timing
Casual Mechanism ???
Durkheim’s Challenge…



Challenge of the modern world

reconcile the new individualism that had sprung from the dissolution of
traditional society with the maintenance of moral control upon which the
very existence of society depends…

To reduce social isolation and strengthen feelings of connection between
people
If you were Durkheim, what institutions might you turn to help
create something that could reconnect people to the community
and/or develop new moral controls on behavior?
What institutions could function to temper the new individualism?
Education will Integrate

Challenge of the modern world


Reconcile the new individualism that had sprung from the dissolution of
traditional society with the maintenance of moral control upon which the
very existence of society depends…
Education: Durkheim worked with French education system to
better integrate individuals into society…

Wanted to create a “moral individualism” in which people were aware
of the their interdependence and mutual obligations others

What is service learning and why does Widener promote it?
Civil Society

Challenge of the modern world


reconcile the new individualism that had sprung from the
dissolution of traditional society with the maintenance of
moral control upon which the very existence of society
depends…
Civil Society: sphere of society that exists between the
government and/or the economy and the individual (D)

Civil society consists of a “variety of different groups and
associations, each of which is dedicated to uphold certain
values and achieve particular ends.”
(Delue, p.10).

Note the following slide…then I’ll put the definition up again
Individuals Connected via Civil Society
Economy
State
Civil Society
Political Party
Union
Rotary
Club Food Bank
Bowling
Team
Professional Sustainable
AssociationMilwaukee Job
Training
Red Cross
Individual
Economy
State
No Civil
Society
Individual
Economy
State
Civil Society
Political Party
Union
Rotary
Club Food Bank
Bowling
Team
Professional Sustainable
AssociationMilwaukee Job
Training
Red Cross
Individual
Durkheim’s Challenge…

Civil Society: sphere of society that exists between the
government and/or the economy and the individual
 Civil
society consists of a “variety of different groups
and associations, each of which is dedicated to uphold
certain values and achieve particular ends.”
(Delue, p.10).

Durkheim: “a nation cannot be maintained unless,
between the state and the individuals, a whole range of
secondary associations are interposed…to absorb him
into the mainstream of social life.”
Crow, p.22
Durkeim Dies in 1917…



In April 1989, a group of teenagers aged 14 to 16 went into Central Park. One group
of 6 youths came upon a young women jogging.They cornered her, and using knives,
rocks, and a metal pipe attacked her. They beat her until she stopped moving, and then
left her for dead. When captured, the youths noted “Everyone laughed and was leaping
around…” One told police “It was fun…something to do.” Police reported a sense of
“smugness”& “no remorse”
Throughout the 1990s, Wall Street Investment Bankers pressured stock analysts in their
companies to “maintain rosy stock ratings on failing companies” in order to win more
business from the failing companies or “pigs” as they called them. Ordinary investors &
employees lost billions of dollars.
Bernie Madoff: “Manhattan federal prosecutors disclosed a long-running scheme that
may have resulted in $50 billion in losses - perhaps the biggest scam in Wall Street
history. The one-time Nasdaq chairman, investigators charged, operated a classic Ponzi
scheme, paying off early investors with funds from subsequent clients to keep the illusion
of profit alive
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/12/13/2008-12-13_feds_say_bernard_madoffs_50_billion_ponz.html
Social Integration?

What term does Derber use in your readings to
describe such behavior? What does he mean by
this term?
The “Wilding” of America
“America faces a wilding epidemic…Wilding includes
a vast spectrum of self centered and self aggrandizing
behavior that harms others. A wilding epidemic tears
at the social fabric and threatens to unravel society
itself, ultimately reflecting the erosion of the moral
order and the withdrawal of feelings and
commitments from others to oneself, to number one”.
(Derber P.6)
Anyone remember the two main types of wilding he
mentions?
Wilding

Expressive Wilding
 “Wilding
for the sheer satisfaction of indulging one’s
own destructive impulses” (Derber p. 6)

Bum Hunting; Flash Mobs

Puerto Rico Day Parade

Milwaukee kids

Woodstock riots

Sports Riots
Wilding

Instrumental Wilding
 Wilding
for money, career advancement, or other
calculable personal gain




Charles Stuart
Corporate scandals at Enron, Tyco…
Bernie Madoff
Jack Abramoff, Vince Fumo
The “Wilding” of America


How does Derber’s term wilding relate to Durkheim’s ideas?
This shouldn’t be a mystery…he explicitly talks about it…
“America faces a wilding epidemic…Wilding includes a vast
spectrum of self centered and self aggrandizing behavior that
harms others. A wilding epidemic tears at the social fabric
and threatens to unravel society itself, ultimately reflecting the
erosion of the moral order and the withdrawal of feelings and
commitments from others to oneself, to number one” (Derber,
p.6).
Durkheim’s ideas morph into Derber’s
ideas…


“Expressive and instrumental wilding have in common
an anti-social self centeredness made possible by a
stunning collapse of moral restraints and a chilling
lack of empathy”(Derber, p.7)
“Wilding partly reflects a weakened community less
able to regulate its increasingly individualistic
members. In this sense, the American wilder is the
undersocialized product of a declining society that is
losing its authority to instill respect for social values
and obligations”(Derber, p.16)
Derber and Durkheim
“It is individualism run amok … it is the face of
America’s individualistic culture in an advanced
state of disrepair. Individualistic culture promotes
the freedom of the individual and in its healthy
form nurtures development and individual rights. In
its degraded form it becomes a license for
unrestrained and sociopathic self
interest”(Derber,p.9).
Wilding…




So…Derber looks around, observes the world, and
develops a theory to explain it…
Do you think he is on to something…is wilding a
serious problem in contemporary American society?
Has a lack of social integration let “greed and
violence erode our nation’s character?”
Alternative Explanations?
Next…Max Weber and Marx


Is individual self interest organized by markets
sufficient to coordinate things in modern society?
What are the consequences of markets in human
labor?